The news has been filled with safety warnings about ride share services following a high-profile case in New Jersey, where a woman was murdered after getting into what she believed was her ride share car. Attacks on passengers and even car accidents can occur with ride sharing services, so it can be useful to follow a few tips to keep safe:
Being in a car accident in Homestead or any Florida community can cause many physical symptoms, such as fractures, head trauma, back injuries, whiplash and other serious injuries. However, car crashes can also cause other, and less obvious injuries.
Traffic collisions are in fact closely associated with some mental health difficulties, including depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. If you already suffer from a mental illness, being in a traffic accident in Homestead or your community can exacerbate the condition.
Broadside crashes, also known as T-bone accidents, are common in Homestead, Hollywood, and across South Florida. These accidents occur when the front end of one vehicle impacts with the side of another car or truck. These collisions tend to be interaction accidents, occurring when drivers fail to yield right-of-way or when someone runs a stop sign or red light.
Unfortunately, T-bone collisions often lead to severe injuries. Since there is little crumble zone and less space between passengers and the side of the car when compared with passengers and the rear or front of a vehicle, it is more likely that passengers will be directly impacted. Many cars have side-impact airbags to offer some protection, but at full speeds at an intersection a truck or car crashing into a driver side or passenger side can still cause devastation.
If you live in Homestead or are visiting the community and get into a car accident, insurance may help you pay for car repairs and medical care for broken bones and other physical injuries. However, if you have been in a traffic accident, you also need to consider trauma and your emotional health.
According to some research studies, car collisions can lead to PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and some accident survivors experience a wide range of symptoms, including disrupted sleep, changes in eating habits, flashbacks, anxiety, depression, personality changes, and more. The emotional impact following a car crash can be as debilitating as any physical injury, but getting help for trauma can be more difficult.
Truck accidents in Hollywood and across South Florida are a key concern for truck drivers who work long hours to get cargo to businesses and customers. Truck drivers have a high risk of on-the-job injuries and of traffic accidents because they spend so much time on the road. Even though they have more training than passenger car drivers, inclement weather, grueling schedules, human error, and the mistakes of other drivers put them at risk of injuries.
Truckers have made big changes over the years to reduce the risk of truck accidents. They have advocated for better and safer working conditions and changes to the industry to make the job safer. They have also fought back against lax training requirements.
In Hollywood and across South Florida, car accidents are an obvious and frequent cause of injury. Children who are in a car injured in a car collision can suffer from many types of serious and life-threatening injuries. However, a vehicle doesn’t have to be on the road for it to pose serious risks to a child.
Some of the less known risks to kids in vehicles include:
Each year, up to 20 people across the country die because they are trapped in the trunk of a car. Most of these incidents occur either with children playing around a car and getting stuck in the trunk or occur because a child or adult is placed in the trunk of a car during a crime.
Since 2002, it has been mandatory for cars to have trunk release handles inside the car’s trunk and by law these trunk releases must be glow-in-the-dark. Older cars may not have this feature. If you have an older car, you may be able to get a retrofit kit to make your trunk safer. Beyond this step, there are other things you can do to prevent trunk entrapment:
Power windows are a convenient feature of many cars, but they exert enough force to seriously injure or even kill a child. While many parents are aware of the importance of car seats or the dangers of car accidents in Hollywood and their communities, they may not consider that something as simple as a window can kill.
Windows can move up quickly and with enough force to crush small hands and arms. There have also been some fatal incidents involving children placing their head through the window and sustaining fatal injuries when a power window was activated. Since power windows are easy to operate, a small child may be able to make the window move easily. Children may have an interest in watching the windows move, which can mean they end up trapped.
Carbon monoxide is an odorless and colorless gas which can be fatal. With no warning signs, it can enter your home and cause sleepiness as well as fatalities, so taking precautions is important. Cars are a major source of carbon monoxide and unfortunately, with our homes being more tightly sealed to ensure energy efficiency, carbon monoxide risks can occur in many homes.
You can keep yourself and your family safe by:
If your child has been in a Hollywood or South Florida accident, you may feel fortunate if your child has walked away without serious injuries. However, you still need to stay alert for the emotional impact of a car collision. Many children struggle in the weeks and months following a crash; some even develop depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or other challenges.
To help your child, you will want to:
Florida Car Accident Lawyer Blog